Ecuador and Galapagos Islands

We said goodbye to Unni at the San Jose airport and had about 4 hours until our flight to Quito, Ecuador. Vea was very sweet by giving out valentines chocolates and little note cards to us at lunch.

The flight trom San Jose to Quito was nice – Avianca is a good airline to travel with. Norrie finally figured out the drink that everyone was having – whiskey on the rocks. There was no wine or beer on this flight – just juice, pop, water and whiskey – not a bad way to travel! We arrived in Quito via Columbia at 12:30 in the morning and quickly checked into our hotel to get a good nights sleep after a long day of travel.

Enjoying a Sunday afternoon in the park in Quito

In the morning we caught a taxi into the old town to walk the streets and explore. Quito is a Unesco world heritage site and the highest capital city in the world. We could feel the altitude having a slight affect on us with some mild head-aches and groggyness. Could have been the whiskey!

This was the first experience for the kids of a bit of culture shock. The city and old town are quite busy and hectic with lots of traffic, street vendors, musicians and beggars. We took a tour of La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús and learned about the details of the architecture and history of the church. It was quite a contrast from the busy Quito streets to the quiet, calm tranquil interior of the church. We spent the rest of the afternoon just strolling around and watching all the families enjoying a typical Saturday afternoon in Quito.

Kai and Vea getting their Ecuador groove on.

We have an early morning wake up on Sunday for our flight to the Galapagos – but ended the night by watching a few more episodes of a great PBS series that chronicles Charles Darwin’s life and the period in which he established his theories of evolution and natural selection. Looking forward to getting there and experiencing what everyone says is a once in a lifetime experience.

Arriving in the Galapagos Islands was very exciting after flying over the open blue Pacific for 2.5 hours. It reminded us of what it’s like flying into the Hawaiian Islands – although the Galapagos are much smaller and with more exposed volcanic rock. We knew going into this trip that the Galapagos are not the typical lush tropical islands which most people expect. There are some populated areas on two of the islands with airports – but otherwise most areas are protected, un-inhabited and only accessible with park guides.

After landing we were shuttled and ferried to the main island of Santa Cruz. We immediately experienced Galapagos wildlife with the bus having to come to a quick stop every 5 minutes to allow land iguanas slowly cross the road. They definitely have the right of way here.

Our first afternoon and evening was spent checking into our hotel and exploring the town of Puerto Ayora – which is the most populated area of the islands. We later learned from some locals that the Ecuador government made a policy 10 years ago to not allow any more people to become residents of the Galapagos, and they even started offering cash bonuses to current residents if they would move back to the mainland. However – people who were born in the islands are granted permanent resident status for themselves and their children.

Puerto Ayora – Santa Cruz at dusk

The next morning we left on the first of our full day tour to Santa Fe Island. We boarded a nice cruiser boat for the 1.5 hour crossing to Santa Fe. We were the only ones brave enough to venture to the front of the boat (the sides were extremely narrow) to dangle our feet over the edge and enjoy the ocean swells.

Upon arrival at Santa Fe Island, we took a small dingy to the shore and were immediately greeted by a colony of sea lions (not seals!). It was very cool to be able to get up close to them and observe their behaviours. Our guide then took us on a hike up a trail that hugged the coast – during which we learned a number of things about this island and some of the endemic species that live here – such as the Santa Fe Iquana, flowering cactus tree, lava lizard, finches, frigates, blue-footed boobies and mocking birds. We also learned from our guide that the Santa Fe Galapagos Turtle is no longer living on the island because they were hunted for food by pirates and privateers who visited here 100 years ago.

The Santa Fe Iquana

Back on the boat we geared up for snorkelling and had a great hour in the water swimming with a colony of sea lions. Kari was quite the trooper since snorkelling is officially ‘outside of her comfort zone’ with the water. She almost hyper-ventilated when we saw the reef sharks swim by while we were playing with the seals!! Kai learned how to dive under the water and equalize his ears, then blow the water out of the snorkel when surfacing – so he had a great time doing that, and got so deep he even touched the bottom.

The family that snorkels together stays together

Lunch on the boat was very tasty with Red Tail Tuna and cold Cervezas. On the way back to Santa Cruz we spent most of our time at the front of the boat again, and were able to see a few Manta Rays jumping out of the water. One even flapped it’s wings in the air – which Vea loved seeing.

Later that night we woke up to the sound of honking horns and chanting on the street outside our hotel. We poked our heads out the door and could see what looked like a street riot. There were cars packed with people chanting songs, honking horns and waving flags. We didn’t realize it at the time, but the next morning we learned that it was a parade related to the national elections that are happening this coming weekend in Ecuador.

Tomorrow we catch a ferry to the island of San Cristobal. All 4 Now!